Aldi Let's Party Cookbook competition

Aldi are currently running a competition on the Aldi UK Facebook page that all you foodie-fans will love. They've created a Let’s Party Cookbook, which is designed for fans to upload their favourite recipes and photographs of celebratory meals, with the chance to win £50 worth of Aldi vouchers and a product hamper worth a massive £200 for the most popular recipes. The first Cookbook is themed around the May Bank Holiday – think quality food that you’ve spent time cooking and good family get togethers.(Don't think torrential rain - it has to stop one day, surely ?!)

To help get my creative juices flowing, they sent me through a lovely hamper of products from their premium Specially Selected range to enjoy. We oohed and aahed as we discovered :

- Parma Ham

- Eucalyptus Honey 

- Citrus Olives

- Ploughman's Chutney

- West Country Farmhouse Vintage Cheddar

- Olive Oil

-Smoked Treacle Cured Back Bacon

Yum, my mouth's watering already ! I've got my thinking cap on and will be adding some of our favourite recipes here as well as entering them in the Aldi competition. Let me know if you enter your recipes and I'll be sure to go over and have a look.

for more information :  https://www.facebook.com/AldiUK

Disclosure : I received the lovely hamper of goodies that you can see above, to help inspire me to create some recipes to enter the Facebook competition.

Other reviews you may be interested in :

Easter treats from Aldi review

Luxury Christmas Foods from Aldi review  

Luxury Christmas Food from Aldi - Part 2 !

Free Family Day Out Idea : Colgate Keeping Britain Smiling Exhibition

This sounds perfect for a fun, family-friendly and above all free day out, especially with the atrocious weather we've been having lately. Colgate’s Keeping Britain Smiling Exhibition will give kids of all ages the opportunity to step into the fascinating world of their mouths. The exhibition will be at The O2 until 28^th May, and will then tour the UK.(I do have a complaint about the following press release though - I now have Dame Vera Lynn's We'll Meet Again on the brain. "Keep smiling through, just like you always doooo ..." !!

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EXPLORE THE INCREDIBLE WORLD OF YOUR MOUTH AT THE

FREE KEEPING BRITAIN SMILING EXHIBITION

 

For Great Family Fun be a Dentist for a Day with Colgate

 

 

From Monday 7^th May, young people throughout the country are invited to step into the unique world of their mouths and learn firsthand what it takes to maintain a bright smile. This free exhibition features a number of exhibits designed to engage and entertain, whilst providing mind-boggling facts and stats all about the fascinating world of your mouth.

 

The exhibits are designed to inspire and delight kids on everything from the anatomy of the mouth and how it works - its role in speaking, eating and drinking for example, to the surprising history of dental hygiene and dentistry to how to care for your teeth and gums. Did you know that Egyptians in 2000BC used toothpaste made of vinegar and powdered pumice stone or that goats’ feet were one of the many things that Ancient Greeks used to keep gums healthy? Visitors can figure out “Clever Mouth Myth Busters,” and find out the “Ingenious Innovations” that are currently being researched for exciting advances in the future of dentistry.

 

With the current rise of tooth decay amongst children in the UK, Colgate hopes the exhibition will inspire young people to start taking better care of their teeth, developing habits that they will take with them and maintain throughout adult life.

 

The exhibition offers a fun and educational day out for school classes and the whole family. Launching at The O2 on London, the Colgate Keeping Britain Smiling Exhibition will travel to six locations throughout the UK including the Glasgow Science Museum and Sheffield’s Magna Science Adventure Centre.

 

The Keeping Britain Smiling Exhibition will tour the following locations:

 

§  7^th May – 28^th May: The O2, London

§  2^nd June – 5^th June: Hyde Park, London

§  30^th June – 8^th July: WestQuay, Southampton

§  13^th July – 2^nd September: Magna, Sheffield

§  12^th September – 8^th October: Glasgow Science Museum, Glasgow

§  12^th October – 21^st October: Westfield Shopping Centre, Shepherds Bush, London

 

Families, schools, and other youth organisations are all invited and encouraged to visit the Colgate Keeping Britain Smiling Exhibition. For more information, please visit 

http://www.theo2.co.uk/event/keeping-britain-smiling-exhibition-20120507.html.

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

 Colgate Healthy Mouth Challenge 

Colgate’s tips for cleaning children’s teeth

Molar Plaqsearch

 

Loseley Summer Meadow Butter review & Lemon/Orange Biscuits recipe

I've often featured recipes created by Loseley Butter here on my blog, many of which are great for baking with the kids, and that was exactly what we decided to do when we received a couple of tubs of Loseley butter to review. I have to say that it looks more like a margarine than a butter, being easy to spread straight from the fridge. Loseley explain that it is butter all the same, saying : "Loseley Summer Meadow Butter is a great tasting easier spreading butter. We use only the very best summer butter from specially selected dairy herds to ensure improved spreadability and great taste. 100% natural butter from cows fed on luscious summer meadows." Taste-wise, on bread or toast, I found it slightly bland but I think that's because we're used to eating the salted sticks of butter favoured in Brittany where Madhouse Daddy Mike hails from. I got around this by adding salt, for example, topping my baked potato with Loseley Summer Meadow butter and sprinkling with the Coriander & Rose Petal Salt that I reviewed here.

For cooking it is absolutely ideal though because you can use it straight from the fridge, even for creaming with sugar, without breaking your wrist ! We decided to make Orange and Lemon Biscuits, using the recipe from Steenbergs' website (here) and the Orange and Lemon Extracts that they had sent us to try out.

Here's the recipe, that I found on Steenbergs' website (http://www.steenbergs.co.uk/recipes/show/324/lemon-biscuits) :

Lemon Biscuits

Delicious zesty biscuits, with a yummy chewiness from the lemon extract

Ingredients

• 8oz butter, softened
• 4oz caster sugar
• 10 oz self-raising flour
• 2 tsp Steenbergs Organic Lemon Extract
• 2 tbsp Steenbergs Organic Lemon Sugar

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180^oC/Gas Mark 4 and lightly grease 2 baking trays.
2. Beat the sugar and softened butter together with a wooden spoon and gradually add the flour.
3. Add the lemon extract and mix in.
4. Shape the dough into balls (about the size of a walnut) and place onto a baking tray, pressing down with a fork.
5. Sprinkle liberally with lemon sugar and then bake for 10-15 minutes until pale golden.
6. Cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!

After creaming the butter and sugar together - so much easier than usual ! - Juliette started mixing in the flour.

I split it into two bowls so that I could add Orange Extract to one half and Lemon Extract to the other. Maybe I should rename them St Clements Cookies !

The cookie dough was a bit dry so the sunflower oil in the Steenberg extracts was ideal for making it lovely and supple and soft. Pierre enjoyed having a little stir.

Each half of the cookie dough made 12 biscuits, which Pierre and Juliette had fun shaping in the baking trays.

Ten minutes later, they were ready and the kitchen smelt wonderfully citrussy. Orange biscuits with milk chocolate letters and numbers and Lemon biscuits with white chocolate decorations, just to differentiate them. Oh and a plateful of cherry buns because I decided to get all retro - total blast from the past that reminded me of school cookery lessons !

The biscuits are lovely and crumbly, reminding me of the Byron Bay Bakehouse Butterbursts that we reviewed here. Wow, homemade biscuits that look and taste shopbought - I impressed myself !

The kids did mention that the lemon and orange extract made their tongue zing but they nevertheless happily munched their way through them.

Final verdict on the Loseley - it's brilliant for cooking, both because it is so easy to cream straight from the fridge and secondly because it gives a richer, deeper, more buttery flavour to the biscuits than margarine would.

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £1.39 for 250g

for more information : http://www.loseley.com/pages/loseley/Loseley+Summer+Meadow+Butter

for more information on Steenbergs Organic Extracts, see my blogpost here : http://madhousefamilyreviews.blogspot.fr/2012/05/steenbergs-organic-extracts-lemon.html

Disclosure : We received two tubs of Loseley Summer Meadow Butter to try out.

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

 Recipe : Mother’s Day Pancake Puff With Strawberries 

PARSNIP AND APPLE SOUP WITH LOSELEY SUMMER MEADOW BUTTER

Heart-shaped biscuits recipe from Loseley

Steenbergs Organic Extracts - Lemon & Orange Biscuits

Steenbergs Organic have introduced three new flavoured extracts to join their range of home-baking extracts and flower waters and they sent some to us here at The Madhouse to try out. We received Peppermint, Lemon and Orange, which join the highly acclaimed Almond Extract, which is perfect for marzipan and Bakewell tarts, and the UK and Europe's first organic Fairtrade Vanilla Extract, made from organic Madagascan vanilla.

Well, we're always up for a bit of baking but I have to admit, I couldn't think of what to make using the extracts. My initial instinct was to make peppermint creams with the peppermint extract and add the orange and lemon extracts to some butter cream or icing to make fruity cupcakes or maybe lemon drizzle cake. But a closer look at the labels revealed that these extracts are made with sunflower oil, rather than alcohol, which actually makes them more versatile because you could even use them for frying, in dishes such as duck à l'orange or lemony stiry fries. Hmmm. Time to head to the Steenbergs website for some inspiration.

Steenbergs have come up with some ideas that never would have crossed my mind. They suggest :

"Steenbergs organic Orange Extract is a lovely smelling extract that uses organic sunflower oil flavoured with organic orange oil.  A great complement to desserts like custards and ice cream, or in fruit pies or tarts, and why not try with fish to add a certain sophistication?

Steenbergs organic Lemon Extract has been created particularly for home baking but complements everything from desserts through to chicken especially together with herbs like rosemary and thyme.  Another sunflower based extract; this has a glorious lemon citrus aroma and flavour.

How about trying some home made mint choc chip ice-cream with the newly improved organic Peppermint Extract from Steenbergs? Sure to add a real zing to any home baking, this is the perfect complement to chocolate and is, of course, ideal for making your own peppermint creams."

I love the idea of using the lemon and orange extracts in savoury dishes with fish and poultry, but for today, I'd promised the kids that we'd do some baking so I headed to Steenbergs recipe section and found a simple recipe for Lemon Biscuits. I'll tell you about the biscuits in a separate blogpost but the extracts gave a really natural, delicate flavour and you don't need to use much - I put one tablespoon in cookie dough for making 12 cookies. The kids complained that it made their tongue zing but they still ate their way through the biscuits !

The extracts are really versatile ingredients with a natural, fresh taste and I can't wait to try out some other ways of using them. Let me know if you have any suggestions !

star rating : 4/5

RRP : £4.85 for 100ml

for more information : www.steenbergs.co.uk

Disclosure : I received three bottles of Steenbergs Organic extracts in order to write the review.

Other reviews you may be interested in :

 Schwartz review #4 : Easy Stir Fry Lemon Grass, Ginger and Coconut  

Terra Rossa Luxury Olive Oils and Spices review

Paski Sir & Gligora Dairy - Croatian cheese review

So who's the cheesiest candidate ? Boris Johnson or Ken Livingstone ?!

And the correct answer is ... both of them !! I have to admit, this made me chuckle !

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Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone have been created out of Mini Babybel cheese by miniature artist Aidan Campbell who has a rather unusual love for the cheese! Aidan contacted Babybel earlier this month to say he had carved the two into cheeses after he was inspired by the brand’s ‘Get Creative’ campaign launched earlier this year: http://www.babybel.co.uk/news.html

 

Aidan decided to create the two politicians in time for the Mayoral elections on Thursday!

Each cheese took approximately six hours to create. Aidan worked his way through over 50 cheeses to achieve the perfect likeness of Boris and Ken and he spent a total of 77 hours on the Boris and Ken (and rejected) cheeses until he felt he reached the final product !

Carving the cheese was more challenging than first thought – typing in boxing gloves comes to mind! The tools of the trade to create the Mini Babybel artworks are nothing more than a surgeon’s scalpel and an old needle in a bent bit of wood for a handle, heated in a candle flame if needed to melt, blend and re-adhere more small bits of wax to correct mistakes

Holding the Mini Babybel cheeses for more than about ten minutes generated enough heat to soften the wax, so it was repeated stints in and out of the fridge working on three cheeses at a time, one in hand and two in the fridge

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Go on, you know you're just dying to have a go yourself now ! I bet he has the most impressive pumpkins in his neighbourhood for Halloween !

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

Cricketer Farm Cheese - Nether Stowey Reserve Cheddar

Blacksticks Blue Cheese 

The Perfect Valentine’s Cheese from Godminster

Weight Watchers ‘Move More in May’ campaign

Weight Watchers have been investigating the nation’s activity habits and their report has revealed that a third of British adults admit to being lazy and, amongst other things, always taking the lift instead of the stairs. Key factors which contribute to Brits leading such sedentary lifestyles include lack of time, long working hours and being too busy. But 33% of people admit they simply can’t be bothered to do anything but relax in their spare time. Weight Watchers conducted the research to launch the ‘Move More in May’ campaign which has been launched to encourage Brits to be more active this month.

They have created an infographic to support the Move More Manifesto. (The above image is just a taster - I love the "Signs You Are Being Lazy" list, many of which I have to admit I am guilty of!). The campaign encourages people to increase their activity levels, eat more healthily and benefit from the positive effects that these lifestyle changes can have on their well being. To sign up to make a move, you can visit http://weightwatchersmovemore.co.uk. You can also enable the Move More Twibbon, and join the conversation on the #MoveMore hashtag, and also be in with a chance to win a £100 spa day treat, to reward your hard work.

I'll be signing up - will you ?!

Disclosure : I have been given a year's membership to Weight Watchers Online and receive monthly hampers of products to review. This is not a sponsored post though and I was under no obligation to blog about it, it just sounds like a great idea! 

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

  

WeightWatchers recipe : Asian beef and mango salad

I'm playing WeightWatchers now ! 

WeightWatchers recipe : Malaysian Pork With Pineapple 

Propercorn Popcorn review

PROPERCORN, the newly launched gourmet, British, popcorn brand, say that they are ready to show the nation how popcorn is done properly. Starting off with The Madhouse !

As you can see from the photo, the girls were over the moon when we received some bags to try out. What you can't see in this photo is that Madhouse Daddy Mike was also hovering in the background waiting to give it a taste ! He's quite right though - this is labelled as gourmet popcorn so it's definitely perfect for discerning adults to savour.

We received two flavours to try - Sweet & Salty and Fiery Worcester Sauce & Sun Dried Tomato, but there are also two other flavours available - Sour Cream & Chive and Lightly Sea Salted - with others on the way. We often eat popcorn here at The Madhouse but it's usually something that I can take or leave. We generally use microwavable popcorn to get a fresh taste and soft texture but it's really hard to time it right so that you get the perfect moment where a large majority of the kernels have popped but before they have started to burn. I found that this Propercorn had the freshly popped softness that we like.

Unlike a lot of shop-bought popcorn which is overly sweet and sugary because it has been caramelised to within an inch of its life, the Propercorn has a more subtle, natural flavour that is perfectly balanced and that grows in intensity as you continue to munch. The girls preferred the Sweet & Salty one while the grown-us loved the more unusual, unexpected spiciness of the Fiery Worcester Sauce & Sun Dried Tomato variety.

Propercorn is being dubbed a guilt-free snack so I turned to the nutritional information to investigate. I was actually pleasantly surprised to learn that a big 30g bag only contains about 100 calories - 128 calories for the Sweet & Salty and 96 calories for the Fiery Worcester Sauce & Sun Dried Tomato one - so it's certainly much lighter than crisps or sweets. It is also high in fibre and made with 100 wholegrain. 

Propercorn say that they follow secret recipes that use only the most authentic ingredients (including garden chives, roasted onions, sun-dried tomatoes and crème fraiche). This presumably explains why in a blind taste test, 92% of people preferred Propercorn to other popular popcorn brand. It gets the Madhouse seal of approval for its original flavours, softness and low calorie count.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : 95p for a 20g packet

Available in Waitrose.

for more information : Follow PROPERCORN on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/Propercorn) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/Propercorn). 

Disclosure : We received two bags of Propercorn popcorn in order to write the review.

Other reviews you may be interested in :

Penn State Sweet & Salt Popcorn review

Sharpham Park Organic Spelt Berry Puffs 

Jelly Belly Jelly Beans review

Patarev Princesses of the World Crafts Kit review

You may remember several months ago, we reviewed a couple of fun, educational kits - The Powers of Light (here) and Shampoo Lab (here) - from French brand Sentosphere. They have now added a range of modelling clay kits to their portfolio called Patarev, which translates as Clay of Dreams. We received the "Princesses du Monde" (Princesses of the World) kit to try out.

Inside the kit, you get six press-out dresses which are coloured on one side and black and white on the other side so that you can colour them in, either following the traditional dress models or using your own imagination. You also get five pots of Patarev modelling clay and a very detailed instruction booklet, showing you how to create the heads and use the five colours to blend the multitude of tones and shades to get the completed models.

As well as being great fun and helping your kids to get their creative juices flowing, it's also educational, both artistically - learning how to make a rainbow of colours from the five basic colour pots - and geographically/culturally, looking at the different regional costumes and trying to work out where they come from.

 Sophie got down to business, deciding to start with the Japanese princess with a fan. I didn't hear a peep out of her for the next twenty minutes, as she coloured in the dress then modelled the face and arms. She mentioned that, unlike much modelling clay, it doesn't feel at all greasy, sticky or gooey and it is actually really nice to work with.

This is the model of the Japanese princess that she used for inspiration.

And here is Sophie's Japanese princess, which - as you can see - she is very proud of. She carefully packed everything away for another day but said that she is really looking forward to making the African, Peruvian, Eskimo and Indian too. (There is a sixth princess to make but I can't for the life of me think what it is and it's safely secreted out of harm's (or rather Juliette and Pierre's !) way in Sophie's bedroom so I can't check!) The kit is labelled age 5+ but to really get the precise details, I would say you need to be a bit older.

The Patarev modelling clay has a lovely soft, non-sticky texture but also doesn't stain, doesn't dry out and the colours stay lovely and vibrant. The kit has only just been released in France so you may not find it in the UK yet - Patarev modelling clay is already available on Amazon UK though.

star rating : 5/5

RRP : €13 (about £10)

Disclosure : We received a Patarev kit for the purpose of writing the review. 

Other reviews you may be interested in : 

SentoSphere Shampoo Lab review 

Ravensburger Aquarelle review  

Plasticine Activity Bucket review

Giveaway #188 : 3 ebooks of WRITE FOR THE FIGHT - closed - winners @gholmes724 @dottydotty69 Carolistheone

I've just told you (here) about the Write For The Fight anthology and shared a guest post from one of the authors, Tess Hardwick. All royalties from the book will go to help the fight against breast cancer.

In honour of the book's blog tour, which is stopping off here at The Madhouse today, Booktrope Publishing have kindly offered me three ebooks of WRITE FOR THE FIGHT to give away to readers of Madhouse Family Reviews.

To be in with a chance of winning, just leave me a comment in the comments box with a way of contacting you (twitter name or email).

Bonus entries

You can do any or all of the following for bonus entries - just make sure you leave me one comment per entry so that they're all counted !

(1) Follow me on twitter (@cherylp59) and tweet about my competition. You can use the handy retweet button over in my side bar or write your own tweet but make sure you copy in @cherylp59 so I can track this.

(2) Follow my blog with Google Friends Connect (over in the right hand side bar)

(3) I love reading your comments so leave me some extra comments on my other blogposts (maximum 5 - other giveaways don't count !) and I'll give you a bonus entry for each one. Just remember to leave me a comment here each time to tell me you've done so.

(4) Subscribe to my blog by email (near the top of the right-hand sidebar) so that all the new posts pop into your inbox in a handy digest every morning

(5) click on the google +1 button over in my sidebar

(6) add a +k klout point to @cherylp59 on Klout and tell me which category you added it to

(7)  pin one of my images on pinterest (tell me which one)

(8) "favourite" this blog on Technorati by clicking on the button in my sidebar

Open worldwide. Closing date : 23/5/12

Please note, you will be contacted by email and/or twitter. If I haven't heard from you after a week, I'll have to pick another winner.

Other giveaways you may be interested in :    

    

Giveaway #187 : Win a funky Union Jack Skibz bib - closing date 16/5
Giveaway #186 : Win a copy of Mum In A Million - closing date 15/5

Giveaway #185 : Win 5 sets of Crazy Soap fun bath products - closing date 12/5

Giveaway #183 : Win one of three pairs of Bobux shoes from their new Step up range - closing date 10/5

Write for the Fight blog tour : guest post from Tess Hardwick

***Don't miss my giveaway to win 3 ebooks of WRITE FOR THE FIGHT right here on my blog ! ***

 Led by best selling author Tess Hardwick and Tracey Hansen, WRITE FOR THE FIGHT is a collection of life experiences from 13 contributing writers, all of whom will donate their royalties from the book to organizations dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.

About WRITE FOR THE FIGHT: A Seasonal Collection of Essays

Authors Tess Hardwick and Tracey Hansen, inspired by the myriad of voices in the world, compile a melting pot of life paths from over a dozen unique individuals, each exploring the four timeless questions we’ve all pondered:

• What do you miss about being 5 years old?
• What would you tell your 20 year old self?
• What is left on your life list to do? What do you still dream of?
• What would you want people to say about you on your 80th birthday?

From the thoughtful to the blunt, the experienced to the young – WRITE FOR THE FIGHT is a humorous and emotional journey that will take you back to the best of times and get you energized for the future.

About the Authors

Tess Hardwick is a novelist and playwright. She has a BFA in Drama from the University of Southern California. In 2000 she wrote her first full-length play, My Lady’s Hand, which subsequently won the 2001 first place prize for new work at the Burien Theatre.  Her first novel, Riversong, was published by Booktrope in April 2011 and became the Bestselling Nook Book in October.

Tracey M. Hansen is an author, blogger, and procrastinator from Cape Coral, FL.  When she is not making her readers laugh over at www.traceyhansen.com she likes to travel or hang out at home with her ‘ManPal’ and three feisty fur-kids. She is afraid of flying, the dark, bees and Rosie O'Donnell...not necessarily in that order.

You can find our respective sites at:
www.tesshardwick.com
www.traceyhansen.com
www.booktrope.com

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To kick off the Write For The Fight blog tour, Tess Hardwick  has written this guest post specially for Madhouse Family Reviews, explaining how the project came into existence :

It was a rainy Sunday morning and I was on the way to church with my young daughters when the idea for Write For The Fight came to me like it fell from the sky. I imagined four questions, examining the stages of life, written by a dozen or so writers. The author’s profit would go to cancer research.

For months, I’d hosted a Thursday guest post on my blog with various writers answering the question, “What would you tell your 20 year old self?”  I was amazed at the variety of advice we would give our 20-year-old selves but also the similarities.  It was an enormously popular series and prompted me to think about the other seasons of life.  What might we learn from answering similar questions about them?

·       What do you miss about being five years old?

·       What, at this point in your life, do you want, wish and dream of for your life going forward?

·       What would you want said about you at your 80-year-old birthday?

The idea for my co-writer came during that same drive to church. I’d met Tracey Hansen via twitter months before and I’d become an avid fan of her blog. Her ‘voice’ is raw and funny, in juxtaposition to my own lyrical and emotional style – perfect bookends between various other styles, ranging from witty, poetic and thoughtful. She graciously agreed to partner with me and we pitched the idea to Booktrope Publishing.  They agreed. We were thrilled.

Some of the 11 other writers came to us from contests Tracey Hansen and I ran on our blogs, while some were handpicked from Booktrope Publishing. They come from various generations, parts of the worlds, and religious backgrounds.  The essays are shockingly honest and illuminating about the human experience - all our commonalities and differences.

My hope for the future of the book is that it will prompt readers to contemplate these questions for themselves. All the writers who participated in this project agreed that answering the questions clarified past lessons and current goals. In our busy lives, we don’t take enough time to ponder the meaning found in our pasts or what we truly want for the rest of the time we have on this earth.

 Other blogposts you may be interested in :

Advice for reluctant readers and writers : Exclusive guest post from Pete Johnson, children's author
Our recipe for Macmillan Cancer Support and Silver Spoon's Little Book of Treats
Live Below The Line campaign - May 7th - 11th - will you be getting involved ?